172: Chapter 99 Selection of Guards_2 172: Chapter 99 Selection of Guards_2 They chatted briefly and upon hearing that the goods Azeryan had ordered from the merchants had arrived, Leon hastily climbed out of bed and pulled out the small treasury of the group.
Having counted a bag of gold crowns, he promptly led everyone out of the house and rushed to the village courtyard.
The goods on the carriage had already been unloaded and the conscripted soldiers from Platon and Longka, following Selva’s people, went to the empty houses in the village that had been prepared in advance to settle down for rest.
Leon exchanged a few polite words with Azeryan, briefly explained about his hair and eye color, confirmed the goods were correct, and then cheerfully paid off the merchants, allowing those eager to return home to depart.
“These days have been hard on you,” Leon said as he watched the caravan leave the village, turning back to express his gratitude to his companions.
He had been busy leading Balfe and others in investigating the forest; now, whether it was reorganizing the labor across the three territories or contacting merchants for supplies, all sorts of miscellaneous tasks had fallen onto the shoulders of his brother alone.
Azeryan smiled, “Don’t mention it; dealing with these matters, using everything I’ve learned with my father in the past, actually brings me quite some joy.”
With that, he patted Leon’s arm and called out to everyone, “You should all take a look, the cloaks and banners we had ordered in the city during this time are ready as well.”
Azeryan led everyone into the village storeroom, bypassing piles of shields, tools, and stored grain, and arrived at a wooden box set aside in the inner room.
Upon opening it, they could see neatly stacked clean, new fabric items.
Leon took out a black robe, shook it out, and looked at it, seeing the emblem of the red sword and white wings on the chest of the robe brought a surge of satisfaction to his heart.
He had sent Azeryan early to the city to have these dozen or so Sword Wing Black Robes made by tailors, not for himself to wear, as his three-layer, fully covering Knight Armor was already warm enough, and he really didn’t want to wear another layer on top.
These Sword Wing Cloaks were actually intended for Kovis, dressed in Servant Armor, and the Heavy Armor Guards he anticipated recruiting.
This would be the first formation of Permanent Guards that could join him on the battlefield anytime, which was why he was willing to spend money to create these identifiable battle robes.
Of course, aside from these black Sword Wing Cloaks he ordered, Azeryan and Knight Lokhak also made several gray battle robes for their future Knight Attendants, adorned with both their emblems.
Knight Lokhak’s emblem was simple: a red shield with a silhouette of a horse rearing at the center.
Azeryan’s emblem was the most complex of the three, featuring a brightly colored quartered sun and golden iris pattern—no doubt the cost of the handiwork was as high as the dye used for those black robes.
In addition to the robes, the box also contained Swallowtail Flags bearing the Farolis Family emblem.
Although Leon already sensed Baron Eriv’s hint to prepare a Square Banner,
Ultimately, he was the only one confirmed to be upgraded and bestowed, while Lokhak and Azeryan in the future, would likely remain ordinary Knights for a long time, still needing to tear the Thorny Flower Banner onto the battlefield.
The next day, Leon organized a grand meal filled with various cured horse meat dishes for the visitors from Longka and Platon.
After that, he chose the time just before noon to gather all the young people, including the locals from Selva, on the village square which had not yet returned to its former stall setup.
A total of one hundred forty-nine age-appropriate conscripted soldiers were called out by leaders from their villages and divided, according to their hometowns, into three squads lined up.
They were armed civilians, properly trained at the Eastern Fortress, and whilst the formation wasn’t perfectly uniform, it wasn’t too disorganized either.
Looking at the formation bristling with spears, long spears, and hooked spears…
under the sunshine, at a glance, this densely packed arrangement indeed looked quite daunting.
Especially since these young people were adults who had spent a long time in military camps and were living in an era with clearly defined social strata, their instinct to maintain quiet and order in front of lords and superiors was naturally much more conscious than what Leon had seen in his previous life.
Leon, hands on a blunt-edged practice long sword, inspected the soldiers he could now gather before him.
He had, of course, brought these conscripts to Selva not just to feed them.
Today’s goal was to select, from these hundred or so people, as many warriors as possible who could meet the standards of a Heavy Infantryman.
Behind him, Azeryan, Lokhak, Kovis, and Olivia, fully armed and armored, were responsible for supervising the order of today’s gathering.
However, Leon himself did not wear heavy plate armor but was dressed in the leather-covered Chain Armor he wore on his journey to the Western Port, standing before these young men.
Once the crowd fully quieted down and their gazes focused on him, Leon slowly spoke out.
“I am Leon Pendragon, Lord of Selva, Knight of the Farolis Family.”
He raised his voice to ensure that the young men present could hear clearly.
“Whether you are from Selva or from Longka and Platon as subjects, you must quickly remember me, Knight Lokhak, and Knight Azeryan’s appearances; in future conflicts, you will be conscripted under our command, but today I have gathered you all here with another purpose.”
Saying this, Leon pointed to one side of the area where several rows of armor were set up on wooden stands by the servants in advance.
I am a newly raised knight, without my own attendant squad, yet rather than recruiting mercenaries of unknown backgrounds, I’d rather select qualified warriors from among you.”